Wenger: It hurts to see Leicester crowned Premier League champions

Arsene Wenger admits it “hurts” to see Leicester City win the Premier League title and declared his Arsenal side must be more ruthless if they are to challenge next season.

Arsenal’s early-season form had them in contention for the Premier League trophy but a poor January saw them drop off the pace shown by leaders and eventual winners Leicester.

Wenger and Co. are third in the league table but a win over Manchester City on Sunday will see them confirm their spot in next season’s Champions League.

However, after seeing Leicester claim the most unlikely of triumphs, Wenger says he wants his side to show a lot more aggression next season. 

“It does hurt to see Leicester win the title. If somebody is better than you, then you have to accept it – and Leicester were better than everyone else,” the Frenchman said.

“Do you think City and [Tottenham] have no regrets, or Manchester United? That’s competition.

“We slipped up too much against so-called lesser teams. Why? I don’t know.

“We had a problem at home and dropped too many points against teams that played deep. We didn’t score enough goals and our deficit is there.

“Our defensive record is strange because we had 15 clean sheets, which is good – but when we conceded we really conceded.

“In the big games away from home we conceded three at Liverpool, United and West Ham – and nearly always from leading positions, which then makes it difficult to win the league.

“We have to add something defensively as a team and be more ruthless.

“When you are two-up up and you finish 3-3 you question the team defensively. We gave cheap goals away and were punished.

“I don’t think we’re soft but we need to toughen up. In some games we were caught – but a lot of teams have the same problem.”